Bees are a real running theme for me this year, I just can’t resist the challenge of photographing these beautiful creatures. But they really are tricky to take pictures of. They are constantly moving, even when lapping the nectar from my Sedum plant in the garden, and in macro photography even the tiniest movements make all the difference. They really are fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. But it’s a pleasure really, to study these gorgeous glowing marmalade orange insects going about their business.

The Honeybees arrive in the garden later in the day than the larger Bumblebees, so during an early start I found some other insects to photograph, like this young Green Shield Bug, which was lurking on my rose bush.

This odd and tiny little creature is a Mint Moth, which normally flutters around the Marjoram in the border, but I found it sunning itself on the Sedum before the bees arrived.

You know you’ve been out in the sun for too long when you start to recognise individual bees!